JP6551204B2 - Terminal fitting - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting.

  Conventionally, a terminal fitting that is accommodated in a cavity of a connector housing in a state of being connected to a terminal portion of an electric wire is known. This type of terminal fitting generally includes an electric wire connecting portion connected to the terminal portion of the electric wire, and a terminal main body portion having a substantially square cross section located in front of the electric wire connecting portion.

  Among such terminal fittings, there is known a terminal main body provided with a projection to prevent the terminal fitting from being inserted into the cavity in an incorrect direction. For example, in the terminal fitting described in Patent Document 1 below, a protrusion (described as a bulging portion in Document 1) is provided at the central portion in the width direction of the terminal main body. This protrusion enters the groove formed in the cavity when the orientation of the terminal fitting is correct, and contacts the rear end of the connector housing when the orientation of the terminal fitting is incorrect. Thereby, the situation (incorrect insertion) that a terminal metal fitting is inserted in a cavity in the wrong direction can be prevented.

JP 2009-252495 A

  By the way, in recent years, it is desired that the terminal fitting can be used as either a waterproof or non-waterproof connector. The terminal fitting for waterproofing is accommodated in the cavity through the through hole of the seal member attached to the rear of the housing when the waterproof connector is assembled. As described above, the terminal fittings with protrusions on the terminal body can be damaged when the protrusions pass through the holes in the seal member. Unsuitable for top.

  The present invention is completed based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and it aims at providing a terminal metal fitting which can be used also for waterproofing.

The terminal fitting according to the present invention is a terminal fitting housed in a cavity of a connector housing in a state of being connected to the end of an electric wire, and the electric wire connecting portion connected to the end of the electric wire; provided in front of a terminal body having a tubular box portion, projecting in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction from said terminal body portion, the terminal fitting by abutting against the rear end of the connector housing A protrusion for preventing insertion into the cavity in an incorrect direction, and a protrusion which is provided in front of the protrusion and which rises from the terminal body in a cantilevered manner and whose protrusion dimension gradually increases toward the rear is provided. have covered the front of the projections, the rising direction of the distal end portion and a, and a cover portion away from the protrusion.

  According to the present invention, when passing the terminal metal fitting through the through hole of the seal member, the projection can prevent the seal member from being damaged, and therefore, it can be used for waterproofing.

It is a terminal metal fitting in a present Example, Comprising: The perspective view which shows the state connected to the terminal part of the electric wire Front view showing the terminal fitting connected to the end of the wire Rear view showing the terminal fitting connected to the end of the wire Plan view showing terminal fittings Side view showing one side of terminal fitting Side view showing the other side of the terminal fitting Partially enlarged perspective view of connector showing terminal fitting inserted into cavity in correct orientation Partially enlarged rear view of connector showing terminal fitting inserted into cavity with correct orientation Sectional view of connector showing terminal fitting received in cavity in correct orientation Partially enlarged perspective view of the connector showing that insertion of the terminal fitting is prevented Partially enlarged rear view of the connector showing that insertion of the terminal fitting is prevented Sectional view of the connector showing how erroneous insertion of the terminal fitting is prevented

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
In the terminal fitting of the present invention, the protruding portion may be formed by knocking out a part of the side wall constituting the terminal main body. According to such a structure, the material removal of the board | plate material which forms a terminal metal fitting can be improved.

  In the terminal fitting of the present invention, the front surface and the rear surface of the protrusion may be open in the front-rear direction. According to such a configuration, the height dimension of the projecting portion by knocking out can be increased as compared with the case where both the front and rear surfaces or one surface is closed (continuous to the terminal body portion). The height dimension of the projection can be made sufficiently large also by tapping.

  Further, in the terminal fitting of the present invention, the projection may have a standing wall which stands along a side surface of the terminal main body from a corner of the terminal main body. Here, when the protrusion is provided at the center in the width direction of the terminal body, the terminal body is inclined in the left-right direction even though the terminal fitting is in the wrong direction, and the protrusion is cavity. Into the corner of the and may be inserted incorrectly. However, according to the configuration as described above, when the terminal fitting is tilted to one side in the left-right direction, the standing wall portion is located in the middle portion in the width direction of the cavity, and when the terminal fitting is tilted to the other side, the standing wall portion is It is located in the middle in the height direction of the cavity. Therefore, it can prevent that a projection part enters into the corner | angular part of a cavity, and a terminal metal fitting is forcibly mistakenly inserted, and can thereby increase the erroneous insertion prevention force of a terminal metal fitting.

  Further, the terminal fitting of the present invention may be provided with a protruding portion that protrudes to a position of a corner portion of the terminal main body portion at a tip end portion in the rising direction of the cover portion. According to such a configuration, since the protruding portion provided in the cover portion is positioned in front of the standing wall portion, the standing wall portion can damage the sealing member when the terminal fitting is passed through the through hole of the sealing member. Can be prevented.

<Example>
Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
The terminal fitting 10 in this embodiment is accommodated in the cavity 41 of the connector housing 40 in a state where it is connected to the terminal portion of the electric wire W. The terminal fitting 10 is formed by punching a conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape and then bending it into a predetermined shape. Hereinafter, in each component, the lower right side (the side connected to the mating terminal fitting) of FIG. 1 is forward, the upper left side (the side connected to the wire W) is backward, and the upper side of FIG. The side on which the portion 23 is provided will be described as the upper side and the lower side as the lower side.

  The terminal fitting 10 includes a wire connection portion 11 connected to the end portion of the wire W and a terminal main portion 12 provided in front of the wire connection portion 11. The terminal fitting 10 is a female terminal fitting, and a tab portion of a mating terminal fitting (not shown) is insertable into the inside of the terminal main body 12 from the front.

  Inside the terminal body 12, a contact piece 13 capable of contacting the mating terminal fitting is provided. As shown in FIG. 9, the contact piece 13 is formed by being folded back from the front end of a bottom wall 16 of the terminal main body 12 described later. The rear end side of the contact piece 13 has a free end cantilevered shape, and can elastically contact a tab portion of a mating terminal fitting (not shown).

  The wire connection portion 11 includes a wire barrel portion 14 that is crimped to a conductor exposed at the end portion of the wire W, and an insulation barrel portion 15 that is crimped to an end portion of the insulating coating.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal body 12 has a substantially rectangular cross section, and includes a bottom wall 16, left and right side walls 17 that are bent upward from left and right side edges of the bottom wall 16, and left and right side walls. A bottom wall 16 and a ceiling wall 18 vertically opposed to each other are disposed between upper end portions of the seventeenth.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the ceiling wall 18 includes an inner wall 19 disposed inside the terminal main body 12 and an outer wall 21 disposed outside. The inner wall 19 continues from one of the left and right side walls 17 (hereinafter referred to as the first side wall 17F), and is bent at a substantially right angle from the upper end of the first side wall 17F. The outer wall 21 continues from the other side wall (hereinafter referred to as the second side wall 17S) of the left and right side walls 17, and is bent at a substantially right angle from the upper end of the second side wall 17S.

  The ceiling wall 18 is provided with a bulging portion 22 having a shape bulging inwardly in one step. The bulging portion 22 is provided at a central portion in the width direction of the inner wall 19 of the ceiling wall 18. The bulging portion 22 is formed at a portion of the ceiling wall 18 facing the contact piece 13 in the vertical direction. The tab portion of the mating terminal fitting is sandwiched between the bulging portion 22 and the contact piece 13.

  The terminal fitting 10 includes a protruding portion 23 that protrudes outward (a direction intersecting the front-rear direction) from the terminal main body portion 12. The protrusion 23 protrudes upward from the top surface of the terminal body 12. The protrusion 23 is provided close to one end side in the width direction of the terminal main body 12. The width dimension of the projection 23 is larger than approximately half the width dimension of the terminal body 12.

  The protrusion 23 is formed by tapping a part of the ceiling wall (side wall constituting the terminal main body 12) 18. The protrusion 23 is formed on the outer wall 21 of the ceiling wall 18. The protrusion 23 is located above the rear of the bulging portion 22 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion 23 has a pair of protrusion side portions 24 standing on the outer surface of the terminal main body portion 12 and a protrusion ceiling portion 25 that is bridged between the upper ends of the pair of protrusion side portions 24. And have. The projecting ceiling portion 25 faces the upper surface of the terminal main body portion 12 substantially in parallel.

  One of the protrusion side portions 24 of the pair of protrusion side portions 24 is an upright wall portion 26 standing along the side surface of the terminal body portion 12 from the corner portion of the terminal body portion 12. The upright wall portion 26 is substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the terminal body 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the standing wall portion 26 continues from the second side wall 17 </ b> S of the terminal main body portion 12, and a part of the second side wall 17 </ b> S protrudes upward.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the protruding side portion 24 facing the upright wall portion 26 stands with an inclination that gradually narrows the width dimension of the protruding portion 23 (approaches the upstanding wall portion 26) from the lower end toward the upper end.

  The protrusion 23 has a shape that is open in both the front and rear directions, and a protrusion opening 27 that opens in the front and rear direction is formed on the front and rear surfaces of the protrusion 23. The projection opening 27 is surrounded by the pair of projection side portions 24 and the projection ceiling portion 25 as shown in FIG. 3 and has a substantially square shape when viewed from the front and rear direction. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the front surface and the rear surface of the projection 23 are both erected vertically (substantially orthogonal to the front-rear direction).

  On both the front and rear sides of the protrusion 23, as shown in FIG. 4, an opening that penetrates the outer wall 21 of the ceiling wall 18 in the wall thickness direction (hereinafter, the front opening is referred to as the front opening 28, and the rear opening is referred to as the opening 23). A rear opening 29 is formed. The front opening 28 and the rear opening 29 are formed adjacent to the front and rear sides of the protrusion 23. The front opening 28 and the rear opening 29 have a square shape over the entire width of the ceiling wall 18. The front opening 28 and the rear opening 29 are both formed over the corner between the ceiling wall 18 and the second side wall 17S.

  As for the front side opening part 28 and the rear side opening part 29, as shown in FIG. The front portion of the bulging portion 22 faces the front opening portion 28, and the rear end portion of the bulging portion 22 faces the rear opening portion 29.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the front opening 28 is formed by cutting and raising a cover 33 described later. The front opening 28 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction. The rear opening 29 is slightly larger in the width direction than in the front-rear direction. The rear opening 29 has a smaller dimension in the front-rear direction than the front opening 28.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a cover wall 31 is raised at the edge of the front opening 28 (the upper end of the second side wall 17 </ b> S). The wall 31 is located at the front of the front opening 28. The covering wall portion 31 covers the base of the cover portion 33 described later, and prevents foreign matter from entering or getting caught under the cover portion 33.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an abutting portion 32 provided on the inner wall 19 of the ceiling wall 18 abuts on the edge of the rear opening 29 (the upper end of the second side wall 17 </ b> S) from above. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal fitting 10 includes a cover 33 that covers the front surface of the protrusion 23. The cover portion 33 is provided in front of the protrusion 23 and has an upward and downward slope in which the projecting dimension gradually increases toward the rear. The cover 33 is close to one end side in the width direction of the terminal main body 12 as in the case of the protrusion 23.

  The cover portion 33 is formed by cutting and raising the middle portion (portion excluding the corner portion) in the width direction of the outer wall 21 of the ceiling wall 18 obliquely upward. The cover portion 33 as a whole has a rectangular shape in which the dimension in the rising direction is larger than the width dimension. The width dimension (dimension in the short direction) of the cover portion 33 is smaller than the entire width of the protrusion portion 23.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the height position at the rear end of the cover portion 33 is equivalent to the height position of the projection portion 23. The rear end portion (the front end portion in the rising direction) of the cover portion 33 is disposed close to the front of the upper end of the projection portion 23. The cover 33 is located above the front of the bulging portion 22.

  At the rear end of the cover 33, as shown in FIG. 2, a protrusion 34 is provided which protrudes to the position of the corner of the terminal body 12. As shown in FIG. The protruding portion 34 protrudes outward in the width direction of the cover portion 33, and the protruding end is located at the end in the width direction of the terminal main body 12. The projecting portion 34 is disposed to face the corner between the upright wall 26 and the projecting ceiling 25 in the projecting portion 23 in the front-rear direction.

  The connector housing 40 is made of synthetic resin, and a plurality of cavities 41 are formed vertically and horizontally. In each cavity 41, as shown in FIG. 9, the terminal fitting 10 is accommodated from the rear. Each cavity 41 is provided with a lance 42 which can be engaged with the terminal fitting 10 inserted at a proper position to prevent the terminal fitting 10 from coming off. The lance 42 is formed in a cantilever shape extending forward and is formed in the front portion of the cavity 41. The lance 42 is engaged with the rear surface of the projection 23 of the terminal fitting 10 from the rear.

  As shown in FIG. 8, each cavity 41 has a main body insertion portion 43 having a substantially rectangular cross section that follows the outer shape of the terminal main body portion 12 and a protrusion insertion portion 44 having a substantially square cross section that follows the outer shape of the protrusion portion 23. And. The protrusion insertion portion 44 is formed on the upper surface side of the main body insertion portion 43. The protrusion insertion portion 44 is positioned close to one side in the width direction of the main body insertion portion 43.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the terminal fitting 10 is in the correct orientation (in this embodiment, the orientation in which the projection 23 is disposed on the upper side), the projection 23 is inserted into the projection insertion portion 44 together with the cover portion 33. Is done. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 9, the terminal fitting 10 can enter into the back (front) of the cavity 41, and is accommodated at the regular position.

  As shown in FIG. 11, when the terminal fitting 10 is in the wrong direction (in this embodiment, the direction in which the protrusion 23 is arranged on the lower side), the protrusion 23 is connected to the connector as shown in FIG. It strikes against the rear end of the housing 40. Note that the cover 33 is pressed against the rear end of the connector housing 40 by the terminal fitting 10 being pressed with a strong force, falls into the front opening 28, and enters the cavity 41.

  In the terminal fitting 10 of the present embodiment, even if the terminal body 12 is inclined, the projection 23 reliably abuts on the rear end of the connector housing 40. That is, when the terminal fitting 10 is tilted to one side in the left-right direction (for example, when it rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 11), the upright wall portion 26 becomes an intermediate portion (intermediate portion of the lower side wall) in the width direction of the cavity 41. When it is positioned and tilted to the other side (when it rotates clockwise in FIG. 11), the standing wall portion 26 is positioned at an intermediate portion in the height direction of the cavity 41 (an intermediate portion of the left side wall). Therefore, even if the terminal fitting 10 is tilted, the protruding portion 23 (the standing wall portion 26) reliably abuts against the rear end of the connector housing 40. Therefore, the protruding portion 23 does not forcibly enter the corner portion of the cavity 41, and the erroneous insertion of the terminal fitting 10 is reliably prevented. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably prevent the terminal fitting 10 from being erroneously inserted into the cavity 41 in the wrong vertical direction.

Next, the operation and effects of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.
The terminal fitting 10 in the present embodiment includes a wire connection portion 11 connected to the end portion of the wire W, a terminal body portion 12 provided in front of the wire connection portion 11 and having a substantially square cross section, and a terminal body portion 12 And a cover portion 33 provided on the front of the protrusion 23 and covering the front surface of the protrusion 23 so as to have a slope gradually increasing in size toward the rear. And.

According to this configuration, when the terminal fitting 10 passes through the through hole of the seal member, the front surface of the protrusion 23 (the edge of the front end of the protrusion ceiling 25 and the protrusion side 24) is prevented from damaging the seal member. It can also be used for waterproofing.
Further, the protruding portion 23 is formed by knocking out a part of the ceiling wall 18 constituting the terminal main body portion 12. According to this configuration, it is possible to improve the material removal of the plate material.

  Further, the front and rear surfaces of the projection 23 are open in the front-rear direction. According to this configuration, the height dimension of the protruding portion 23 by knocking out can be increased as compared with the case where both the front and rear surfaces or one surface is closed (continuous to the terminal body portion 12). The height dimension of the projection 23 can be made sufficiently large also by striking. That is, when both the front and rear surfaces of the protrusion 23 are not opened, the sheet thickness is 2 to 2.5 times the thickness limit. A striking height of 3 times the size can be realized. Therefore, the locking force with the lance 42 and the erroneous insertion preventing force can be sufficiently high. Even if the height of the protrusion 23 is increased in this way, the front surface of the protrusion 23 is covered with the cover 33, so that when the terminal fitting 10 is passed through the through hole of the seal member, the seal member Can be prevented from being damaged.

  Further, the protruding portion 23 has a standing wall portion 26 that stands along the side surface of the terminal body portion 12 from the corner portion of the terminal body portion 12. Here, when the protrusion is provided at the center in the width direction of the terminal body, the terminal body is inclined in the left-right direction even though the terminal fitting is in the wrong direction, and the protrusion is cavity. There is a risk that it may enter the corner of 41 and be inserted incorrectly. However, according to the configuration as described above, when the terminal fitting 10 is tilted to one side in the left-right direction, the standing wall portion 26 is located at the intermediate portion in the width direction of the cavity 41, and when tilted to the other side, The upright wall portion 26 is located at the middle of the cavity 41 in the height direction. Therefore, it can prevent that the projection part 23 enters into the corner | angular part of the cavity 41, and the terminal metal fitting 10 is forcibly mistakenly inserted, Therefore The force which prevents the erroneous insertion of the terminal metal fitting 10 can be heightened.

  In addition, a protrusion 34 that protrudes to the position of the corner of the terminal main body 12 is provided at the tip of the cover 33 in the rising direction. According to this structure, since the protrusion part 34 provided in the cover part 33 is located in front of the standing wall part 26, the standing wall part 26 damages the sealing member when the terminal fitting 10 is passed through the through hole of the sealing member. Can be prevented.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above with reference to the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the female terminal fitting 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention relates to a tab portion in contact with the mating terminal fitting on the front side of the terminal body. It can apply also to the male type terminal metal fitting which was provided by protruding.
(2) In the above embodiment, although the projection 23 is formed by tapping a part of the ceiling wall 18, the present invention is not limited to this, and the projection may be formed by bending the ceiling wall, for example. You may
(3) In the above embodiment, the lance 42 is locked to the protrusion 23. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the locking position of the lance can be arbitrarily changed. The lance may be locked at the end.
(4) In the above-described embodiment, the protrusion 23 has the standing wall portion 26 standing along the side surface of the terminal main body 12 from the corner of the terminal main body 12. It does not need to have an upright wall, and may be provided at the center of the terminal body in the width direction.

W ... Electric wire 10 ... Terminal metal fitting 11 ... Electric wire connection part 12 ... Terminal main-body part 18 ... Ceiling wall (side wall which comprises a terminal main-body part)
23: Protrusion 26: Stand wall 33: Cover 34: Projection

Claims (4)

A terminal fitting accommodated in a cavity of a connector housing in a state of being connected to an end portion of a wire, the terminal fitting comprising:
An electric wire connecting portion connected to an end portion of the electric wire;
A terminal body portion provided in front of the wire connection portion and having a cylindrical box portion;
And projections to prevent said projecting in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the terminal body portion, the terminal fitting by abutting against the rear end of said connector housing is inserted into the cavity in the wrong orientation,
Provided in front of the protrusion, the rising from the terminal body portion cantilevered, rearward have covered the entire surface of the protruding portion forms a slope that gradually projecting dimension increases, rising direction of the distal end portion the projection A cover part away from the part,
Terminal fittings equipped with.   The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the front surface and the rear surface of the protrusion open in the front-rear direction.   The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion has an upright wall portion standing along a side surface of the terminal main body portion from a corner portion of the terminal main body portion.   The terminal fitting according to claim 3, wherein a protruding portion which protrudes to a position of a corner of the terminal main body portion is provided at a tip end portion in the rising direction of the cover portion.

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